MSHS Is In The Elite Eight!

This past Tuesday the Muscle Shoals High School Trojans varsity boys basketball team defeated Wenonah in triple overtime by a score of 82-75! WOW… talk about intense! But they didn’t quit… they didn’t give up… they found a way to win. Bryant Starkey tied the game in the second overtime with .2 seconds left in the game! Then we pulled away in the third overtime to seal the victory.

The picture to the left is the celebration right after the win (My son Trey is #20).

Now the next game is Friday (Tomorrow) at 10:40 AM (God willing) in Hancevilled at Wallace State Community College. We will play Decatur for the third time. They beat us twice during the regular season and once in the area tournament. If I’m not mistaken, Decatur was ranked fourth at the end of the season. It will be a tough game, but if our boys play as hard as they did Tuesady, they have a good chance of winning.

I couldn’t help but think of a passage of Scripture as I reflected upon the game. There were hundreds of students there… just as many if not more parents… and a whole host of other people to see the other games before and after our game. The passage comes from Hebrews 12 where it is written that since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, we should throw off everything that hinders us from running with endurance the race that is set before us.

In the game Tuesday that is what our boys did. Now to do that in life is just as, if not more important, as any game that is ever played. I do believe that we live the Christian life with many who have gone before us cheering us on so to speak. They want us to win. They want us to do well. They want us to keep trying, keep striving, keep working to honor and glorify God in everything we do every day of our life.

There are so many applications from sports to life to the Christian life. One is there is always opposition. The Adversary wants us to fail. He wants us to quit and give up. He wants us to fear and stay on the bench. But since “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world,” we do not have to fear! While the outcome of basketball games are unknown, our final victory is already known because Jesus sealed it for us on the cross! Therefore, when we engage in spiritual warfare, we are sure of ultimate victory.

The goal we have is to live a life that glorifies God. Success is obedience to Him. Individual events may seem like losses to us at times, but the final outcome of the “game” is already in the books. God wins! And since He is the winner… and we are on his “team” (In His family)… we too are winners. Not only winners, but victors of the highest magnitude!

I’m happy the boys won their game, but I’m more excited and interested when Christians win in their struggle. I’m more excited when believers overcome the one who opposes them. Those victories really light my fire!

Now (I’m back in “Dad mode” again), I hope and pray that our boys will continue their winning ways through to the state finals. And along with that, I pray that YOU will be victorious as you live your life for Christ!